Monday Morning Impact – February 10
Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 9.8%
Worldwide IT spending is expected to total $5.61 trillion in 2025, an increase of 9.8% from 2024, according to the latest forecast by Gartner.
“While budgets for CIOs are increasing, a significant portion will merely offset price increases within their recurrent spending,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “This means that, in 2025, nominal spending versus real IT spending will be skewed, with price hikes absorbing some or all of budget growth. All major categories are reflecting higher-than-expected prices, prompting CIOs to defer and scale back their true budget expectations.”
Segments including data center systems, devices and software will see double-digit growth in 2025, largely due to generative AI (GenAI) hardware upgrades, according to Gartner. However, these upgraded segments are not expected to differentiate themselves in terms of functionality yet, even with new hardware.
“GenAI is sliding toward the trough of disillusionment which reflects CIOs declining expectations for GenAI, but not their spending on this technology,” said Lovelock. “For instance, the new AI ready PCs do not yet have ‘must have’ applications that utilize the hardware. While both consumers and enterprises will purchase AI-enabled PC, tablets and mobile phones, those purchases will not be overly influenced by the GenAI functionality.”
“IT services companies and hyperscalers account for over 70% of spending in 2025,” added Lovelock. “By 2028, hyperscalers will operate $1 trillion dollars’ worth of AI optimized servers, but not within their traditional business model or IaaS Market. Hyperscalers are pivoting to be part of the oligopoly AI model market.”
The most recent IT spending forecast research is available to Gartner clients in “Gartner Market Databook, 4Q24 Update.” Non-clients can find additional information in the complimentary Gartner webinar “IT Spending Forecast, 4Q24 Update: GenAI’s Impact on a $7 Trillion IT Market.”
Channel Impact®
These reports can help channel partners to understand market opportunities and challenges.
GTT Appoints New Americas Channel Chief
GTT Communications, an Arlington, Virginia-based networking and security provider, has appointed Chris Jones as the company’s National Vice President Partner Channel, Americas. Jones will lead GTT’s partner relationships, channel sales, and channel enablement within the agent channel.
“Chris Jones is an exceptional leader with a proven track record of driving partner growth and building trusted relationships across the channel ecosystem,” said Sara Segers, GTT’s Senior Vice President, Channel and Partner Program, Americas. “His broad industry expertise and deep understanding of the needs of our partners and their customers make him an invaluable addition to our team.”
Jones previously served as their AVP for AT&T Partner Solutions, Alliances Channel and ACC Business. With decades of channel experience, he brings a rich background in sales, go-to-market strategies, partnerships, and alliances.
“I am thrilled to join GTT and have the opportunity to work alongside such an innovative and partner-focused team,” said Jones. “GTT has built a strong reputation within the industry for its impressive network and security solutions, and I’m excited to collaborate with our partners to create new growth opportunities, drive mutual success, and deliver exceptional value to our shared customers. I look forward to contributing to the continued growth and evolution of GTT’s channel program.”
GTT is a networking and security as a service provider for multinational organizations. Their portfolio includes SASE, SD-WAN, security, internet, voice and other connectivity options.
Channel Impact®
Jones is well positioned to be a solid channel leader for GTT.
WatchGuard Acquires ActZero for Open-Platform AI Security
WatchGuard, a Seattle-based cybersecurity company, has announced its acquisition of MDR services company, ActZero. The move is expected to enhance WatchGuard MDR, further extending the company’s Unified Security platform.
“We realized the need to scale rapidly as we have gained traction throughout the year with our MDR service,” said Prakash Panjwani, CEO of WatchGuard Technologies. “The acquisition of ActZero allows WatchGuard to add capacity, scalability, and new technology that will enable our MDR service to expand to the full WatchGuard portfolio and third-party security products. With additional scale, we can handle a larger partner base efficiently, building confidence with our partners so they can easily add more services as we expand our MDR capabilities.”
The acquisition brings into the fold simplified onboarding procedures and new ML-based platform tools, built on an open architecture that extends beyond WatchGuard endpoint security to managed Fireboxes and third-party services such as Microsoft Defender.
“I’d like to thank and congratulate the entire ActZero team,” said Sameer Bhalotra, co-founder and CEO of ActZero. “By integrating with WatchGuard, the team’s efforts in creating an AI-powered MDR solution with expert analysis will expand worldwide and provide unmatched protection against cyber threats.”
Channel Impact®
This acquisition is expected to benefit managed service providers with operational efficiency gains, enabling MSPs to more easily add MDR capabilities without building and maintaining their own in-house security operations center.
Stay in the Know
Keep tabs on what’s happening in the channel and the impact it will have on the partner community by subscribing to Channel Impact communications.
Recent News
Search Buzz
Buzz Categories
